Over the years various packaging has been used in association with the shipments of products which can be damaged during the packaging and shipment processes. One of these products, for example, has been fresh produce, such as apples, pears, peaches, oranges, and grapefruits, which can be easily bruised, smashed, or inflicted with other types of damaged by the packing and shipping processes. With such fragile items as fresh produce, the requirements of carefully packing and handling can slow down the production process considerably.
Various shock absorbing packaging techniques have been used for fresh produce such as packing the produce in foam boxes or foam wrap, adding plastic bubble-wrap to a box or package, and adding a large number of foam particles or chunks of foam to a box or package after the produce has been placed in the box. These prior techniques, however, have numerous drawbacks. For example, foam and plastic do not have very good environmentally friendly traits, e.g., often not readily recyclable. Also, some of these techniques can slow down the packaging process. Further, using the chunks of foam, for example, can be messy for both the company packing the produce and for the person or company receiving the produce when the produce is unpacked.